Final phase of Watervliet school district's project underway

By Record staff

Monday, May 20, 2013

WATERVLIET -- The fourth and final phase of a multimillion dollar facilities project at the Watervliet City School District is underway.

A ground breaking ceremony was held Monday for Phase IV of a building project which will include renovations to the primary wing and cafeteria, new roofs for the building's gymnasium and kindergarten wing, new windows, and classrooms will be outfitted for new technology. Site work includes repaving the school's parking lot and walkways.

Phase IV facilities improvements for Watervliet Jr. High School include science wing and computer lab renovations, window and door replacements, new flooring, and lighting for areas that were not renovated previously. Renovations to the nurse's office and guidance suite, as well as auditorium upgrades that include backstage rigging, new lighting and new seats, are also planned.

Athletic facilities upgrades at the junior-senior high school campus include a synthetic-turf playing field that is expected to be ready for the 2014 football season, and a new six-lane track with an eight-lane straight away track, officials said.

Watervliet City School District voters approved the $18.9 million bond referendum for this phase in December 2011. Over the last several years, the school district has undertaken a series of construction and renovation projects totaling a little more than $30 million in facilities improvements including new classrooms, a new gymnasium, cafeteria reconstruction, technology upgrades, energy-efficient systems and more.

"I thank our architects, Mayor Mike Manning, Assemblyman John McDonald, our students, staff and community members for joining us this morning to celebrate the beginning of Phase IV of our district's building project. This project includes many, much-needed upgrades to both school buildings, inside and out, as well as a brand new athletic turf field and all-weather track, that our student athletes and our community will enjoy," said superintendent Lori Caplan. "I want to also take a moment to thank our community for their unwavering support. Although we are all in fiscally tough times, this construction bond came with a zero increase to our local taxpayers and will prove to be a welcome improvement for our district and the community as a whole."

This announcement came on the same day that deconstruction of the 1890 St. Patrick's church concluded down the street. Dan's Hauling and Demolition started the project of demolishing the former Roman Catholic Church in early April. A boiler house and rectory were also demolished. Issues arose in recent days due to an attempted sabotage by putting an unknown substance in the crane's fuel tank and due to cables breaking during intended demolition.

As of Monday afternoon, all that remained of the church - once large enough to house 1,000 parishioners - was a heap of red bricks, which had previously been posted on Craigslist as being for sale. That post has since been taken down.

The church demolition project, which for a time was battled in the courts by area preservations who argued that other viable proposals for the property were possible, was announced last spring by Albany developer Nigro Companies.

The contractor will eventually tear down a former church and six row houses on the 3.5 acre property to make way for a new Price Chopper. Construction of the supermarket is expected to start this summer, officials said.